US Speedskating hires law firm to investigate charges after another former teammate comes forward

In the aftermath of a second sexual misconduct allegation against one of its former officers, US Speedskating has hired the law firm Sidley Austin to investigate claims against three-time Olympic speedskater and former federation president Andy Gabel.

"US Speedskating will not tolerate abuse of any kind and we intend to investigate these claims, and any others that arise, thoroughly," the organization said in a statement released Friday night.

Gabel is facing a second allegation in as many weeks from a former teammate.

Nikki Meyer, formerly Nikki Ziegelmeyer, now 37, went public with her charges this week, first published by Milwaukee radio station WUWM-FM 89.7. She told the Tribune this week that she was 15 when Gabel, then 26, first engaged in sexual relations with her in 1991 in his dorm room at Northern Michigan University where both were members of a national training program.

"That first night was sex," Meyer said. "It was brief and forced."

Meyer said sexual relations with Gabel resumed about six months later. She said sex with Gabel occurred "a handful of times" and that "sexual relations" occurred "probably weekly to semi-weekly" and continued until the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway, when she was 18.

"It was kind of like he seemed to lose interest in me," she said.

Friday evening, Gabel released a statement to the Tribune in which he said any relationship he engaged in was consensual. The statement read, in part: "I want to emphasize, there was no incident of any abuse ever. I never forced myself on any individual and any allegations of that nature are absolutely false.

"Looking back on it now, I understand that my conduct nearly 20 years ago, and longer, was still inappropriate. I've apologized publicly for that and I am sorry for crossing that line."

The relationship between Meyer and Gabel was cited in a journal kept by Meyer's roommate, Lexie Bonitatibus, formerly Lexie Riley, then a 19-year-old college student.

"Nikki and I had a very serious discussion about some very horrible things that Andy is doing to her," Bonitatibus wrote in an entry from Nov. 8, 1991, according to a scanned page of the journal the Tribune obtained. "He is playing with her mind and messing with her body without her permission."

Reached for comment, Bonitatibus recalled two occasions in which Meyer confided forced sexual relations by Gabel but Bonitatibus also said she never witnessed anything.

"I wasn't in the room," Bonitatibus said. "But again, it was not two kids kissing in the back of a car."

Bonitatibus, 40, said she confronted Gabel once but said she didn't bring it up again when she worked with Gabel in preparation for the 2002 Winter Games.

Meyer lives in Imperial, Mo., with her husband and daughter. She won a silver medal in 1992 and a bronze medal in 1994 as part of relay teams.

Gabel, who grew up in the Chicago suburbs, joined the speedskating national governing body's board of directors as an athlete representative in 1994. He remained on the board until 2010, including serving as its president for four years.

On Sunday, Gabel, 48, resigned from his positions as International Skating Union short-track committee chairman and as a member of the US Speedskating Hall of Fame committee after allegations of sexual misconduct made by Bridie Farrell, another former teammate.

Before going public with her allegations, Farrell had contacted the USOC, which encouraged her to speak out.